Category: Right Conduct

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Transgender Bathrooms

4715One of the big issues waging in the never ending culture wars is “bathroom” laws.  This has been brought on by attempting to deal with transgender folks on a level that meets their needs.  Transgender people would like use public restrooms that match what they perceive as their gender identity.  Many states have passed laws attempting to force transgender people to use public restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates.

First a confession, Continue reading “Transgender Bathrooms”

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Islamphobia

My Jewish wife has expressed to me that every time she sees an islamicphobic posting Facebook she feels like she has been kicked in the teeth. She sees islamphobia as just a different flavor of anti-Semitism.  It is same swallow from the larger cup of racism and intolerance. “Why cannot everyone just remember the Golden Rule,” she said.

From Islam:
“No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”

From Judaism:
“What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.” ~~ Talmud, Shabbat 3id

From Christianity:
“All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” ~~ Matthew 7:12

“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” ~~ Luke 6:31

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Break a Little Bread

My wife Robin is Jewish. She is also very ethnic looking. I bring this up because of a couple stories she has shared with me over the years. One is that as a young girl she sometimes felt like she was black. In her childish mind she felt an affinity with them due to discrimination and feeling like she did not belong to the larger society. She also tells the story of moving to a north St. Louis suburb as a young newlywed. Due to her ethnic appearance a lot of her neighbors thought she was Italian. She allowed them this belief as it was easier to deal them than if they knew she was Jewish. At least that was her feeling.

I will admit anti-Semitism is something I do not understand. For obvious reasons it is something I have pondered on over the last few years. I have done some minor research on the issue. While I have some vague understanding of its roots, the vehemence with which it is has come down through the generations to us mystifies me.

I have a dear friend, Leon, a black man a few years older than myself. He lives in Jackson, Continue reading “Break a Little Bread”

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Acceptance and Tolerance

A comment to me recently started me thinking about what is the difference between acceptance and tolerance. The comment was this:

“To me homosexuality is not acceptable behavior. Why are Liberals trying to force me to accept this? I feel discriminated against.”

One definition of acceptance is — the action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group. Another is — favorable reception; approval; favor. Tolerance is defined as — the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.

Even a cursory glance at the human race gives the impression of great diversity among its members.   This is truly amazing when you consider that if you were to pick two random individuals and sequence their DNA there would be a Continue reading “Acceptance and Tolerance”

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“No Gays Served”

On the Daily Show last night they played a clip from Fox News where they compared the situation in Indiana in regards to the so-called religious freedom act to forcing Jews running a bakery to serve Nazis.

My response to that would be:

First and foremost you are not comparing apples and apples.  Nazism was a political movement that as part of their core philosophy incorporated racism, anti-Semitism and the extermination of all inferior beings (physical deformed, mentally handicap, etc.) as defined by the Nazi party.  Homosexuality is just another common expression of human sexuality.  Any moral repugnance is more an expression of a person’s religion or culture. It is no worse or better than heterosexuality, just not as common.   To say a person is gay, is no different than saying they are black or blonde or Hispanic.  It is simply a characteristic of a person.

While at one level I believe we should be able to do business with only who want to, there are so many areas of life where this is not true now.  We cannot choose on the basis of color, ethnicity, religion or gender who we rent or sale a house to, who we serve in a restaurant, who we hire, who we accept into a school and many more things. What the Indiana law is attempting to do is codify a religious belief to allow discrimination against a specific minority.  One way to marginalize any group is restrict where and what they can do.  I do not find that morally or ethically justifiable.

Really in the long run what is the difference between a sign that reads “Whites Only” or “No Coloreds” and one that reads “No Gays Served”?

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I Saw Racism Received Like a Body Blow Today

If you grow up in America it is hard not to incorporate some racist attitudes into your being. Sadly, it is just part of the DNA of an American. When I could just barely read I remember seeing signs that read, “Whites Only”, and being perplexed by it. While I could read, I had not assimilated the cultural norm that some people are better than others based solely on the color of their skin. I believe that as a nation we have been working very hard to move away from this paradigm. I believe Dr. King’s dream will be fully actualized someday.

Prejudice and bigotry is something I have thought about a bit over the last few years for a couple personal reasons. One being that when I lived in Jackson, Mississippi I became good friends with a black man a few years older than myself. We remain the best of friends to this day despite the change in my geographical location. He grew up in an area of town not too far from the street now named Medgar Evers Blvd. He has told me stories of the Civil Rights era in that town that left me less than proud to be white.  When we first started hanging around together we had a series of discussions about race. It is just something that has to happen in this society in a “mixed” relationship.

The other reason is that a few years ago I started dating a Jewish woman, and eventually married her. Continue reading “I Saw Racism Received Like a Body Blow Today”

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Madder Than a Baptist Finding His Favorite Liquor Store Closed

GUNI really surprised myself as how quickly I went from wandering around REI Christmas shopping to madder than a Baptist finding his favorite liquor store closed.

The REI here is St. Louis is in one of the richest parts of town. The parking lot is full of Beamers, Mercedes and Teslas in addition to the expected Subabrus, Toyotas and Hondas. We were walking towards the front of the store to check out. Robin never noticed him, but there was a young man, perhaps in his late twenties, walking around with a 45 strapped to his waist. He was obviously not store security. He did not look like a plains clothes police office in his Australian outback hat. I had to turn around and walk towards the back of the store as my impulse was to walk up to him and say, “Unless you are carrying a badge, you are one stupid mother f***er.

I do not want to live in a society where people can walk around with lethal weapons strapped to their bodies. I consider concealed carry laws an atrocity beyond words. I have lived 63 years and I can think of only one situation where I might have wanted a gun. Instead I turned around and confronted the man verbally which was enough. It is insane to have to worry about accidentally triggering some mental case with a gun tucked away somewhere on their body. If I verbally abuse you, flip you off, or cut you off in traffic it is more insanity to have to worry about a weapon.

My personal opinion is that anyone that is willing to carry a weapon, openly or otherwise, in a situation where the need for it approaches an infinitesimal small percentage is not sane enough to carry a weapon.